


Tripwire

by Strange_Archivist



Series: Everything, Every Things [8]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 21:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12826329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strange_Archivist/pseuds/Strange_Archivist
Summary: Jim Hopper's head is going to explode. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but one of these days those rambunctious kids are going to push him over his threshold for loud boisterousness, and his brain is going to go up in a cloud of smoke.ORThe one where Mike is a wiry, clumsy as hell, lovesick awkwardling.





	Tripwire

Jim Hopper's head is going to explode. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but one of these days those rambunctious kids are going to push him over his threshold for loud boisterousness, and his brain is going to go up in a cloud of smoke.

Having the kids over all day had been bad enough. They'd talked and shouted all through their eight hour long Dungeons and Dragons game.

But then that Wheeler kid had gone and set off the tripwire and the whole place burst with loud gunshot noises.

-

After three rounds of, "okay, pack it up, you kids have families to get home to," he'd burnt through nearly all of his patience and resorted to shouting, "LET'S GO!"

Things moved a bit more quickly and quietly after that.

Board games were put away, backpacks and coats zipped up, and the kids were saying their goodbyes, all hugs and promises to visit the cabin again soon; Will insisting he'd bring El more crayons the next time, Dustin and Lucas promising snacks and movies, Max insisting on bringing her Heart records, aghast that El had never heard of the band and that Jonathan hadn't included them in his music lexicon, and Mike promising to talk to her later on their walkie talkies. Concerned some "bad men" might still be listening, they didn't really "talk" so much on the talkies as they did tap out short or sometimes silly morse code messages to each other on their own channel, but both kids clearly felt it was a luxury after so much time apart.

Hopper really hadn't been trying to snoop, just, good grief, how many times could you say goodbye and promise to visit soon before actually going? Then he saw the two hug again, longer than any of the other kids had hugged, and when they separated, El stretched up to give the boy a peck on the cheek.

The boy had instantly colored and turned into a bumbling mess at El's chaste kiss. Dustin had clapped a a hand on Mike's back and said, "alright, c'mon loverboy, remember, I still gotta get those history notes off of you."

"Whatever, just a second," Mike had said breathlessly, and returned her peck on the cheek with one on the lips. He and El were both bright pink after that, not at all due to the late winter chill in the air, and Hopper was starting to lose his patience.

"Hey kid I was thinking about making breakfast for supper. You want one or two eggs?" he stepped out onto the porch where the kids were saying goodbye. He pretended to be surprised that the boy was still on the porch, "oh hey, did you forget something, Wheeler?"

 The boy went even pinker. "Uh, no sir."

"Right. We'll be seeing you then."

"Uh, yeah." He looked between him and El. "Right, um, see you. Night, El." Dustin then grabbed the back of Mike's backpack and pulled him off the deck.

"Night, Mike," she returned, still not looking at Hopper. She liked to watch them until she couldn't see them anymore. Sometimes Mike would turn around and wave when he was still within the line of sight.

"Ugh, you're hopeless," Dustin had whined when Mike turned around to wave again. El had waved back, smiling brightly, and the boy took a few staggering steps backward, still waving and then...

And then the quiet exploded into a long series of bangs.

Hopper sighed heavily.

The other kids immediately doubled over laughing, or at least, Hopper had assumed they were. He couldn't see Lucas and Max anymore, but he could hear them laughing. Will clutched his side he was laughing so hard, and Dustin unsuccessfully tried to disentangle Mike from the tripwire while roaring with laughter too.

"I - s-sorry, I'm sorry chief, I-" the boy mumbled, going even redder. "I can - I can help set up another one, if you want."

"I don't have supplies for another one right now. Just go home, kid."

"Right. Um. Right. Sorry. Sorry. Bye."

El had just giggled, then looked to Hopper and giggled some more. Little shit.

-

So after a quick supper of pancakes, bacon and eggs, Hopper's out buying more supplies (and asprin).

Joyce gives him a smile as she rings him up. "Rough day?" she asks a little too innocently as she watches him uncap the gallon of orange juice he's buying, take a swig out of it, and use it to swallow two pills from the brand new asprin bottle.

"Could say that," he says.

"You know," she whispers, "I never pictured you as a father. But you've turned into quite the dad."

He grunts, but returns her smile.

"It suits you," she says.

He smiles wider. Maybe an actual grin. It feels strange on his face, like he's forgotten how to do it.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He clears his throat. "Yeah, well. Duty calls. See ya 'round, Joyce."

"See ya," she says, waving him out the door. He turns to wave again, and stumbles over the store threshold, nearly faceplanting if it weren't for the help of the door handle he'd grabbed.

Joyce laughs and he feels like an idiot, though she isn't laughing unkindly, and it's all he can do to get out of there before he does something else stupid.

As he starts the Blazer to head back to the cabin, he finds he has new found sympathy for the Wheeler kid.

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all, I gotta be honest, I don't even ship Jopper all that hard, but it just keeps creeping up in these little ficlets. YMMV.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think!


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